Day One - Hiring the smart fat girl.

The first of what is basically a lame diary entry about my work experience week at a fashion magazine - very self-indulgent, so forgive the whining and rambling both!

Monday 14th May 2012

After a night spent planning outfits and thinking of ways to politely convince the Nordic man in my hostel not to eat and dismember me, I let Google Maps take me on the scenic route to my glamorous new workplace. 

I sat in the foyer, the lone brunette in a sea of perfectly polished work experience girls, was collected by a stressed out editorial coordinator and it had begun.... whirlwind tour of the (surprisingly small) office, directions to the photocopier and straight into the coffee run. It soon became apparent that my fellow ‘workie’ was a returning guest star who’d interned before, remembered everyone’s names and was friends with the editor’s husband. (She shall now be known as Annie Edison.)

Of course, Little Annie Adderall took to our next task with infuriating chutzpah, chatting away pleasantly as we helped sort out the mess in the beauty cupboard.  Apparently every few months the rivers of unused lotions, crèmes, masques and sprays sent in by various PR companies threaten to drown tiny beauty editors, so a ‘beauty sale’ is held. Everything from Schwarzkopf to Shu Uemura is carted out by various interns, chucked on a table and sold to the girls in the office - $5 for as much crap as they can fit in a bag. 

It was then that I had my first clichéd glossy mag moment, as Annie, myself and the other interns were ‘paid in product’ for our help. I came away with a $250 hair straightener, cologne, moisturiser and make up and am still trying to find people to give it all to – not a bad perk for my first day on the job.

Lunchtime was when all my crazy showed up. Despite the work being relatively easy and gift-filled and everyone being nice and polite, I felt like a big fat fuck on my first day at school. I couldn’t compete with Annie for hair shine or bubbliness, my efforts at conversation  had fallen flat, and while my outfit had seemed all Comme-y and sporty and 90s cool at 8.30 that morning, I might as well have turned up wearing Bjork’s skin as a hat. I sat by myself eating a salad, wishing I’d worn skinny jeans and ankle boots and wondering what the hell I’d got myself into.

Me, 1.00pm Monday 14/5/12

Once I’d exchanged my salad for a burger and dusted off the remainder of my self-pity, I was sent to help out in the fashion cupboard, where things started to look up. A shoot was planned for New York the next day, so we stuffed DVF and Bally into suitcases and put layers of duct tape on the soles of beautiful shoes – just getting to touch these things was definitely a highlight for ol’ Anna, and I spent the rest of the day letting out happy squeaks at each new item.

I finished day one a little happier, though couldn't shake that awful feeling of being a big fat nerdy loser. I went home, leapt straight into a glass of wine, and dreamt of Stanley Tucci turning up to give me a make over and help me fit in...



I had planned a  proper outfit post, but it shall have to be recreated once the shiraz is gone from the dress I wore... until then...

How Anna tried to look today - a moodboard thing

 

Inspired by Hussein Chalayan for Puma,  the athletic/balletic choreography of Emio Greco and Peter C Scholten's 'Rocco', and Pierre Rigal's 'Game Over', Comme Des Garcons Spring Summer 2012  and Nike's collaboration with Liberty